The Central Bank of Syria (Arabic: مصرف سورية المركزي‎) is the central bank of Syria. The bank is located in Damascus with 11 branches in provincial capitals.[1] It was established in 1953 and started its operations in 1956. The objective of the bank is "to foster the stability integrity and efficiency of the nation’s financial and payment systems so as to promote optimal macro economic performance".[2]

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Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, it has been reported that Syria's gold reserves have been cut in half from the pre-civil war amount of around $17 billion, due to the Syrian government resorting to selling off its reserves as a way of coping with international sanctions.[3] The Governor of the Central Bank of Syria Adib Mayalah has sought to deny these reports.[4] This is similar to how the Syrian government is having to use up its foreign reserves to meet the demands of a budget deficit which has greatly increased to around $6.7 Billion USD.[5]

The Central Bank of Syria has actively been trying to undermine these various sanctions, with Bank officials meeting with friendly institutions such as Gazprombank executives in Moscow in March 2012.[10] The Central Bank of Syria has taken an increasingly clandestine role in the domestic private sector as the country's status as a pariah state and its failing economy have deterred foreign investment.[11]

During the Syrian civil war the Central Bank building has been attacked three times. In April 2012 an Rocket-propelled grenade was shot at the building, in April 2013 it was affected by a car bombing nearby and in October 2013 it was hit by mortar shells.[12]